AN EXPLOSIVE new book describes the depth of the dependence and “consuming obsession” between former prime minister Tony Abbott and his chief of staff Peta Credlin, which ultimately cost them both their jobs.

Senior members of the government told The Australian journalist Niki Savva, whose book Road to Ruin: How Tony Abbott and Peta Credlin Destroyed Their Own Government is out on Monday, that they tried to get Abbott to sack Credlin and avoid losing the leadership.

Savva writes that “Abbott lived in a bubble built for two”. There were even rumours that the duo were having an affair.

At one point, NSW Liberal MP Concetta Fierravanti-Wells confronted Abbott about the rumours.

“Politics is about perceptions,” she told him. “Rightly or wrongly, the perception is that you are sleeping with your chief of staff. That’s the perception, and you need to deal with it.

“I am here because I care about you, and I care about your family, and I feel I need to tell you the truth, the brutal truth. This is what your colleagues really think.”

Both Credlin, who is married to former Federal Director of the Liberal Party Brian Loughnane, and Abbott denied the affair.

But the book includes some extraordinary anecdotes which reveal the level of trust and intimacy between the pair.

“Like King Edward VIII, who gave up his throne because he could not do the job without Wallis by his side, Abbott had convinced himself he could not do it without Credlin. Ultimately, it cost him the highest office in the land.”

She said: “One day, Tony will be sitting on a park bench in Manly feeding the pigeons, and he will blame you.”

The book’s release comes amid claims that Abbott is attempting to stage a comeback.

He will recontest his Sydney seat of Warringah and this week he headlined a Liberal fundraiser in Tasmania and again warned his party against making changes to the tax system, especially to negative gearing.